Here to Serve

The Florida Sheriffs Association is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation made up of the 67 Sheriffs of Florida, approximately 3,500 business leaders and 130,000 citizens throughout the state.

Founded in 1893, FSA has quietly served the citizens of Florida by supporting the needs of the state's law enforcement community. It has grown to be one of the largest and most successful state law enforcement associations in the nation.

Through the Florida Sheriffs Association, the 67 Sheriffs of Florida are given a forum to address lawmakers to push for positive changes in the criminal justice system in our state. FSA also provides Sheriffs' Offices badly needed programs such as affordable training, special task forces and legislative and legal services. Because FSA unites the efforts of all Sheriffs Offices in the state, the result is a significant cost savings for better quality policing.

The majority of Sheriffs credit the work of the Florida Sheriffs Association for many positive trends related to public safety in our state. Through FSA, they are able to convince lawmakers to build more prison beds, increase the minimum of time served and more recently to modify Sentencing Guidelines, which prevented many career criminals from ever seeing the inside walls of a state prison.

In addition to recent reports that Florida actually saw a decline in crime, Sheriffs are quick to point out that state prisoners are now serving an average of 78.8% of their sentences, as compared to in the early 1990s. There are more prison beds to accommodate criminals now, and with the Sentencing Guideline legislation of 1997, offenders are now receiving stiffer penalties to start.

The Florida Sheriffs Association has achieved many other notable accomplishments, all of which directly affect the quality of law enforcement in each community throughout the state:

  • FSA created the Florida Sheriffs' Bureau, forerunner to what is known today as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
  • FSA founded the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches, a child care facility in operation for over 40 years
  • FSA founded the Florida Law Enforcement Academy in 1963. Located in Tallahassee, the state's capital, it was the first statewide training center for city, county and state law enforcement officers
  • FSA helped create a way to provide affordable insurance programs for individual Sheriffs' offices with the founding of the Florida Sheriffs Self-Insurance Fund. Created in 1978, the program saves millions of dollars in taxes each year
  • FSA was a founder of the Florida Commission on Law Enforcement Accreditation, a program which encourages law enforcement agencies to maintain the highest standards of professional law enforcement for our communities.